Pellet shooting grenades have been available for use in playing war simulation games. These grenades generally consisted of a hollow housing containing a quantity of pellets loosely contained in a chamber which was in close proximity to a pressurized air reservoir. A valve was generally provided between the air reservoir and the pellet containing chamber. Upon opening the valve, the flow of pressurized gas would cause the pellets to be propelled from the chamber. The pellet containing chamber was often made from several sections which would come apart when the valve was opened, thereby permitting the pellets a way of escaping the grenade when the grenade “detonated”. In many cases, a chemical propellant was used to create the gas pressure necessary for launching the pellets.
While these prior pellet launching grenades do provide a means to simulate the action of a real hand grenade in a safe and convenient manner, there are a number of draw backs associated with previous designs. Firstly, the method of dispersing or launching the pellets did not impart much kinetic energy to the pellets; thereby greatly limiting the “effective range” of the grenade since the pellets would travel only a short distance. The delay mechanisms used in previous pellet launching grenades to delay the “detonating” of the grenade after the grenade was activated also lacked reliability. Furthermore, previous pellet launching grenade designs were complicated to use and expensive to manufacture. A more economical and reliable grenade design which is capable of more efficiently imparting kinetic energy to the pellets is therefore required.